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Having taught HS history for 30 years, there are generational “watershed events” where you will always remember “where you were...what you were doing”
So......If you would “care to share”.....What are your memories of that day?
My dad was a kid playing outside, when he heard on the radio that Pearl Harbor was bombed. of course he lived through the murders of JFK, Dr. King, Bobby.
My “watershed event” was Sept. 11. My daughter was born five days earlier, I had taken some time off of work, and was returning that morning when those images came across the news channels. I was planning on passing out “HERESHEIS” bars (not cigars), but Hersheys chocolate bars with my daughters name, weight, etc. Ingredients: Sugar and Spice, and everything nice. I decided I couldnt be celebrating so I held on to those chocolate bars. I thought “what kind of world did I bring my daughter into.”. All those lives lost in something so surreal.
I got to school early as I usually do and just turned the TV on for the news, slowly, quietly my students started to come in and sit down, not a word was spoken, bells rang, periods passed and every classroom watched intensely. I answered what questions I could, but that day, there were very few concrete theories advanced regarding who was responsible. It took a few days before theories were advanced.
About a week later I quietly passed out my “HERESHEIS” bars. less “celebratory” and more “reflective”. American flags were EVERYWHERE, and promises that we would “never forget”. Nineteen years have passed, my daughter in year 2, at UH Maui, and I now realized how lucky I was, in such a time of trouble to have this wonderful child as a distraction from all the hate.
Todays history assignment (if you want) is to share where you were & what you were doing and your thoughts on 9/11/2001.
Respectfully,
V83
Thanks for the reminder of what's important.
I was having a lazy morning and decided to go into the office late. Before I grabbed my keys to leave my apartment in downtown St Paul, I looked at the TV that was showing the Today show. There was a lot of confusion about a report of a 'small plane' that had 'accidentally' hit one of the towers. I left and drove to the office, while listening to radio reports. After arriving, we all sat around and did nothing but watch in shock. After the gravity of the situation became clearer, some were trying to reach family and friends they knew who worked in the WTC. I made one personal call and then sat in silence. In times of trouble, I usually get busy doing something, anything that can make a difference. I just felt helpless.
Then I remembered my old team and the number of employees whose job it was to travel the country doing project work. Just a few months earlier, over half of them were on my team. They were still 'my people' so I figured I could still be of use to someone. I again grabbed my keys and drove over to a different office to see if they needed any help locating them and verifying which flights they were on. We had almost 2,000 employees away from their homes. While watching the news, I joined those making phone calls. We were relieved that none were on 'those' planes that day. With all flights grounded, we spent the rest of the day making arrangements for some to make drives, some *very* long drives, home in rental cars. I drove home that evening and shed tears for the first time that day. Once home I received the call back I was waiting for. My ex was an analyst for the Dept of Defense and was in the Pentagon. (I used to live in DC). Anyway, he was fine but certainly a changed man. I think we said more in that call than we had since I'd left DC. Then it was more news coverage well into the morning until it just hurt to watch anymore.
I will certainly never forget that day. You know the saying that you might not always remember what someone says but you will remember how they made you feel? If I think hard enough about it, I can remember many details and a lot of horrible images. But what's stronger and immediate is the imprint of the feeling. I did nothing special that day. I knew no one in the towers. But it shifted my world view. I considered myself then to be culturally aware and a world traveler. I was giving myself far too much credit and approach it differently today.
Again, @ Vanguard83 , thanks for the reminder.
A beautiful reflection of a tragic day, Thank you.
I was @ work watching the towers on a big screen they set-up in the cafeteria.
One of the sadder days in my whole life.
May the victims RIP and the loved ones left behind find solace in their memories.
Tragic day on so many levels, nothing positive has come from it. I vividly remember where I was and picture it in my mind along with days like being in 2nd grade reading class and hearing over the PA system that Kennedy had been shot, the series of assassination, Bobby,MLK . Watching Neil Armstrong step on the moon, witnessing the Challenger explosion. Life has a lot of these events to look back upon and try and figure out the meaning. Somethings just have no good explanation.
My soon-to-be wife and I were getting ready for the long commute to work (we worked at the same company). We had the TV on and saw the same pictures you all saw, minutes after the first plane hit. Small plane, likely an accident, so I didn't really think much about it, only that it was one of those unbelievably beautiful early fall days in NYC and remembered that I had stood on top of one of the towers on another bright and beautiful September day just two years before.
Just before we left, the 2nd plane hit and we, like everyone else, knew instantly that it was terrorism.
On the drive to work, we'd heard on the radio that one of the towers had collapsed. I thought, well, partially collapsed, right? No way does a skyscraper like that completely collapse. We arrived at work and half the company was in a conference room, most with eyes full of tears, but they were whispering about something I was not yet aware of. We were told we could go home if we wanted, but I just went to my office and watched the news the rest of the day and did nothing else.
Later that morning, we were told that one of our sales persons had a brother who either worked in the towers or was a fire fighter in NYC (I can't remember now). But he was killed. He had one of those very distinctive Italian names and I remember seeing it slowly rise on the vertical screens behind the stage when U2 played the Super Bowl halftime performance a few months later.
It's almost impossible to believe that this 19 years ago. Seems like maybe 4 or 5. It was a year before I got married. 6 years before my babies were born, kids who will be entering high school a year from now. Just unfathomable how much time has passed.
I was going with my son to my sister's house. I was just outside of her house and heard a snippet on the radio that the tower was being hit by a plane. I paused for a moment to try and register what I had just heard because it seemed so incomprehensible and just did not resonate. We went inside my sister's house and my mom was there. The TV was on and I saw the plane hit and the flames. I was stunned for a moment and thinking what the hell is happening. My son was by my side and he asked me what was happening. I remember grabbing him and holding him tight.
The next thing, I set him down and he was playing with his cousins. My sister and I immediately were thinking about our dad and aunt since both work in the towers. I looked at my mom across the room and the look on her face said she was thinking about them too. I hugged both of them and went outside. I started making calls. I couldn't get through to anyone at first. It was the longest day ever. I was sick to my stomach and going through a wide range of emotions. I felt disgusted, angry, sad, afraid, helpless, anxious. I was going to teach a class that day but it was canceled. I was actually relieved because there was no way I could focus. I went back inside and told my sister that I couldn't get through but I would keep trying. Later I would find out that cell phone towers were being overloaded and some services would crash.
My mom, sister and I sat in the living room while the kids were playing all around us. It was like a waking nightmare. I felt like I was outside of myself and could not connect or get grounded. I remember clinging to my phone. I kept calling friends and family. We kept waiting for word of some kind. I remember finally getting through to my aunt. She said she felt something weird in her stomach and stayed home but the minute she heard, she headed down there to see what she could do. Later I heard that my dad was about to enter the building when he realized he forgot something and went to run an errand. He also went to help when he heard a crash and lots of screaming. Both of them struggled with survivor guilt. So much changed that day. We hugged and cried when we got word but we also cried for all that was lost that day. Every year this day comes, my stomach is knotted and I cry at some point. There were so many heroes that day and so many lives changed forever. My outlook on many things changed forever.
Saddest day of my life.
Awoke at 6 am in my apartment in San Francisco. A friend from Germany is on the line telling me to turn on the TV to see the plane accident in NYC. I thought a Cessna got lost in the clouds. I watched on live TV when the 2nd plane hit. Told Anja I have to go.
My girlfriend worked in the South Tower of WTC. She was relocating to SF in 6 weeks to move in with me. It was a sticky situation as she was engaged to some ahole in Manhattan and had broke it off with him after she and I had met. I’m frantically calling her cell number but can’t get through. Her office number is at my desk at work.
I dress in 30 secs, jump on cable car. Everyone on their phones, everyone in tears. I get into my office, 19th floor across from TransAmerica pyramid. I call her work landline from our office land line. Busy signal, won’t go through. My co-worker Michael and I are watching the TV. People are starting to jump from the WTC to escape the fire. I oray I don’t see her blond hair leaping out of a window. Michael gets a call, it’s his best friend in Oakland Paul. Paul is hysterical. His boyfriend’s plane is hijacked en route back to SF. I just had dinner with my girlfriend along with Michael and Paul and Paul’s partner Mark 2 weeks ago.
Police arrive at our office. We are being evacuated. Flight 93 that was SF bound with Mark has just crashed. TransAmerica pyramid could be next terrorist target and they are emptying the entire Financial District. Cell phones aren’t working, the network crashed. Michael and I go to a bar/cafe in the Mission District nearby to watch the news. We watched the South Tower fall. I remember all the oxygen being sucked out of the room, dizzy, I think I fainted. I knew in that moment she was gone. Her remains were never recovered, lost under all that rubble.
We find out later that Mark and some others rushed the cockpit and brought the plane down in PA. I won’t watch any of the movies or shit about Flight 93 as I felt I lived through it in realtime as Michael relayed info from poor Paul as he was getting calls from Mark’s mom. I went to Manhattan once since 9/11 and I doubt I’ll return. I knew she was the one, that I would marry that girl and want kids with her. I have since never married, never had kids. When you land a 10 it’s hard to settle for 7s and 8s.
I really don’t talk about it, tho unlike social media I can vent here anonymously without friends and family reading about it. And there are thousands of others out there who lost loved ones so I don’t feel like my experience is any more or less tragic than theirs. It was a horrible day for many.
Wow. Tough to read SF, even tougher for you to experience. I appreciate your sharing, I feel your pain & grieve your loss.
That whole day and even weeks after was just so surreal.
Sending love my purple brother.
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